MOUNTAIN GOATS AND KAKI KING @ Independent 10/23/2008Honestly, I was a little disappointed walking into The Independent to see Kaki King fronting a full, electric band. When first introduced to King, I adopted her as one of my favorite You Tube commodities. She was the tiny chic who did crazy things on a lap guitar and almost impossible things with an acoustic. That was King in a nutshell, and my, how she has busted through it. If there was ever a question as to whether a personality lurked behind her musical innovation, King has answered.“I love San Francisco”, she cooed. “It’s the most laid-back city where everyone’s got a fucking opinion—God, just shut up!” As a male fan added a comment to this perspective of his city, King retorted, “Why is it always some guy with a fucking mustache who wants to argue with me?” Clearly, the 29 year-old Atlanta native does indeed love San Francisco, but maybe not so much all San Franciscans.  King continued the show with mostly electric songs on the softer side of post-grunge. Lots of peddle effects and keyboard made for a watery, feminine tonality. Granted, while her full band songs fail to capture her full contribution to progressive instrumental music, it brings back elements of a simpler and definitely better time in rock music. Add to this King’s versatile vocals which one minute will mimic serene Sleater-Kinney and the other bring down the house with wails that make you wonder just what Tracy Bonham is up to these days. I miss her. Then, of course, there are the moments when it is just King and her guitar and they are why we came out in the first place. While it is known that King would rather not be pigeon-holed as an instrumental solo act, it is simply what she does best. King not only revolutionizes guitar playing, she does so in a way that still creates an accessible product. In other words, not just for stoners and music snobs. Next was the headlining trio Mountain Goats, who embarked upon the stage in crisp suits and polite smiles in spite of what their name might suggest: dirty, grumpy animals. But “What’s in a name,” they say. As front man John Darnielle began to sing through his grin and through his nose, he immediately sounded so familiar, to the point where it was maddening. After a short mental montage of all the bands you’ve loved throughout your life, the process of elimination pointed to another band whose lyrics are poetic, whose music is daintily arranged and whose singer is just as sunny and nasally: Pansy Division. These guys are what would be left if you took the gay punk out of Pansy Division, and I got to say, that’s not as bad as it sounds. The three musicians managed to cover a lot of ground and break the boring confines of folk while still playing basically folk songs. Don’t ask me how. Maybe it has something to do with the good-hearted sense of humor that seemed to exude from the stage for the duration of their performance. Mountain Goats have been featured on such shows as Weeds and Moral Oral. If that doesn’t give you the clearest picture of where they are, I don’t know what will. Altogether, pretty fun.
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